


Mutated Ectoplasm: Drabbles and One Shots

by HelplessLemon



Category: Danny Phantom, Hiveswap, Homestuck
Genre: Angst, Angst and Humor, Drabble, Drabble Collection, Ficlet Collection, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Multi, One Shot, One Shot Collection, will tag as updated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:22:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25079821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelplessLemon/pseuds/HelplessLemon
Summary: This set of drabbles relates to my ongoing fanfiction "Mutated Ectoplasm!" This relates to various topics and other ideas I have in the story, though won't spoil anything I plan on doing. I hope you all enjoy!
Comments: 7
Kudos: 9





	1. Study Habits

Karkat sighed as he looked at the mirror, ignoring the eyebags that were beginning to grow under his eyes. He gripped the notebook by his side tightly as he triple checked that the door was locked. He really didn't want to be disturbed.

With a deep sigh, he opened up the notebook to the page about himself. He couldn't help but read over the notes, reviewing them carefully.

_Subject has lower than average body temperature, currently about 72.3 degrees. Has lower than average heartbeat, usually at half the amount of a normal human being. May be related, but hard to tell. Billows smoke whenever other ghostly entities are nearby…_

He tore his eyes away from it, rubbing them to get the words out. He didn't have time to reread his notes, he needed to check himself over now. He'd been putting it off since the accident and he needed to know if anything else changed, especially in his human form. Karkat sure as hell didn't want to know if something weird would happen if he went to a doctor's appointment.

Another sigh escaped him. He had to look himself over before he lost his nerve again.

The first thing he checked was his teeth. Flicking his tongue over them, he noticed that few almost felt sharper than they normally were. God, were fangs going to be in his future? He should look out before somebody tries to audition him for any Twilight reboots. That would a hell of a career move.

_Subject has slightly elongated canines. Unknown if they will grow in the near future, especially to exaggerated levels. Will more teeth sharpen or grow in the future? Or will the growth stop at canines?_

He clicked his mouth shut. His hand grabbed onto the light nearby, eventually plunging the room into darkness.

He was disturbed to note that even if they weren't in ghost mode, they still glowed. Not in an obvious way, of course, but if you bothered to look for them, it was kinda obvious. Guess he wouldn't be going to any unsolicited slumber parties then. At least he can see in the dark, though.

_Subjects eyes glow whenever light in the area is not optimal. Slightly noticeable in the whites of his eyes, but most apparent in the iris. Could be due to strange color of the eye making it appear to glow that makes it more obvious. Grants night vision of a sort to the subject as well._

He certainly upgraded in the senses department, that was for sure. He wondered if his hearing was increased too. He really hoped not. Karkat was sure of many things in his life, but he didn't want to be able to hear his neighbors have sex or something.

…Then again, if he focused hard enough, he could actually hear his dad working in the lab. Nothing specific, but he could tell he was there. He could even smell certain things when he took the time to and he could've swore some colors worked differently.

_The senses of the subject change depending on specific focus. Can smell quite a bit better, possibly has colorblindness corrected, and increased hearing. Not exactly amazing just yet. Could get stronger through practice? Can senses get stronger that way?_

This wasn't even the more interesting tests he got planned. The fact that he was in puberty, late stage or not, meant that maybe he could grow bigger and get even stronger depending on how the hormones in his body decided to change him.

And the list of questions of how this accident effected him only seem to get longer and longer.

_How strong is the subject?_

_How fast is the subject?_

_What happens if the subject injects/eats ectoplasm? Filtered? Unfiltered?_

_How did the accident change him?_

_Does exercise in one form increase the strength of another?_

_Does change in psychological profile/shift in personality change ghost form?_

_Are there further changes to the subject's human form that aren't obvious? On the inside?_

_Could the accident happen twice?_

_Can the subject be legally considered a human?_

_How will the powers develop? From his psychology? Or from subject's natural DNA?_

_Am I a mutant now?_

_Can the changes to the subject's DNA be sustainable?_

_Is there ectoplasm in my blood or blood in my ectoplasm?_

Karkat slammed the notebook shut, breathing deep and heavy. More questions kept coming and he didn't know the answer to them anymore and he was honestly unsure of how to get rid of them. His throat was closing up and he could feel his eyes watering.

He clamped down on the rise of emotions running through him, taking a deep breath.

"Think like a scientist, Vantas. Think like a scientist." Karkat sucked in a wet breath, letting it out shakily. "Can't get any answers if you freak out. You won't get shit done if you do."

Looking into the mirror, he didn't get any answers. All he saw were glowing eyes.


	2. Void Thoughts

Looking into the swirling void that was the portal inspired a lot of emotions within Karkat. Whenever he wasn't taking notes on random ghost stuff he noticed from Horuss or Muelin, doing homework, or some other shit, he was contemplating just what exactly he was looking at.

He couldn't help but wonder a lot about things when looking into it. Logically, it was one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs in the 21st century. It was an interdimensional portal that was stable, used up minimal amounts of electricity, and could be used to safely pass into it. Of course, not without proper equipment and determining if the environment was safe for humans.

There's also the fact it proved an afterlife existed. Admittedly, it was one more comparable to Limbo and it would most likely anger every existing religion, but that's beside the point. He had (ironically) living, breathing ghosts in front of him working on the portal, and even met some with concrete histories outside of the Ghost Zone! It would certainly catch someone's attention.

Those were the net positives about the portal. At least, those were the ones that Karkat could think up of. He actually was proud of Spades and really was happy his dad finally achieved his dream of proving ghosts were real after all these years. It almost made him want to stop trying to turn off the portal due to how heartbreaking it would be if he did.

But those positive feelings were overshadowed by… other emotions.

Philosophically? This portal was an absolute nightmare. Like he said before, his dad found an _answer_ to the _afterlife._ And that's honestly fucking terrifying in some respects because that meant there might be a heaven _and_ a hell of any religion. Does this imply that a god exists? Or multiples gods? Multiple pantheons that are divided, together, or simply exist on a single plane? This would personally set off a philosophical bomb in the world that nobody is prepared for. A sick part of him actually looked forward to it.

How would this also effect every other aspect of life? Would people even care about death if they knew there was a possibility of coming back? From what he could tell from his own research, becoming a ghost was a rare possibility. How many people would try, in some vain attempt at getting power, try to replicate it purposefully? How many would fail? How many would _succeed?_

Karkat couldn't help but imagine how many grieving family members, spouses, and others would want to jump in there at the chance of seeing a loved one again. He always started sweating whenever he saw Aradia look at it too long. He wondered if she saw this as her chance to see her mother again. If she wanted to just jump in and see where she could possibly be.

He never like it when she got to close to the portal. He personally made sure she never got to close to it or was alone with it for too long. Karkat knew she was over it for the most part, but it was a malignant thought that would stay in the back of his mind.

…Maybe he was being too negative about this, though. Karkat did figure his own experience with the thing would taint his views on it, if only a little.

Emotionally, he knew why he hated the portal. The thing had killed him. Ended his life before it ever truly began. While people did die younger, seventeen was still too young for someone to perish. Still so many things to do, people to see, and all of that.

And even if he was still here, he still died.

No matter what, ghost, halfa, or freak, that portal still killed Karkat Vantas.


	3. Change

Sollux was not a person that liked change. And not in the way where positive social improvement was concerned, but more in his personal life. There were things about his life that he would prefer stayed the same no matter what.

Of course, like any person his age, he knew that was impossible.

He was hit by this reality when Mituna, one of the most vulgar and immature people he knew, decided to grow up and go to college, he was admittedly surprised. His brother wasn't an idiot by any means, but it wasn't like he always talked about having plans for the future. He never mentioned what type of college he'd like to go to, what he'd major in, or even what he wanted as a career.

So when he left to get his degree, he couldn't help but feel a little shocked. And maybe (after some significant prodding by Karkat and Aradia) a little devastated by that. He'd always felt that his brother would be a constant part of his life, as the swearing, insane influence he always was. Not whatever college would make him out to be.

Another time, over a longer period of time, was when Aradia's mom died. It wasn't an immediate thing for him to realize how things would change since, admittedly, they still stayed friends after that. If only for a month or two.

He hadn't noticed until it was too late when Aradia had seemingly disconnected from the two of them, having gone off and made new friends that helped enforce her mental state. It was a weird year or two when they were on the verge of becoming friends to acquaintances. It took Karkat sitting them all down and talking things out for things to slowly get back to a new normal and actually hanging out again.

But that didn't mean he still liked change. It was why he never really thought about what he wanted to do outside of high school, what he figured his friends wanted to do other than the stuff they talked about as kids, or even what they'd be doing a month from now. Hell, he hadn't asked Aradia out because the dynamic would probably be ruined if they didn't work out as a couple or somehow left Karkat in the dust.

He'd later realize how stupid that was after the accident. The thing that basically changed everything.

Karkat was trying to act like everything was normal still. He and Aradia were guilty of that too, but he was the biggest one out of the three of them. Sure, he'd tried using his powers for their pranks as a way to cope with having them, but it was clear he was just trying not to think about it. He was just pretending everything was okay and that none of the stuff they were doing now was actually effecting the rest of their lives.

But the facts are that Karkat was not human anymore and was starting to become something other then their friend. Every action he made was someone trying to protect them and everyone else, each suggestion almost a command, and every thought was focusing on the ghost issue. And from the looks of things, that wasn't going to change in the immediate future.

Karkat had changed from grumpy asshole friend to undead superhero, and that was something Sollux was having a hard time accepting.

Something told him he'd have to get used to it.


	4. Eyes

Ardata knew how to read people fairly well. As a social media icon, that was kind of needed in order to get the views on her blogs. She can't humiliate a person if she doesn't know how their mind works.

However, she could easily say that she didn't understand why Trizza kept trying to provoke Vantas.

It wasn't like he wasn't an easy target sometimes; once you hit enough buttons, that kid could rant for hours, doing his best just to prove you wrong. It was usually pretty entertaining to watch him and Trizza argue until the bell rang, making them all late. They'd always blame each other for it and run off before any detentions could be handed out.

But lately, Ardata couldn't help but not find it funny anymore. Something about Vantas changed while they weren't looking.

She couldn't exactly say _what_ changed about him; it was just obvious to her something did. Vantas was shiftier, always looking outside the window as if he were expecting something. His steps seemed louder, trying to be noticed nowadays like he expected nobody to see him coming already. All of his movements were somehow more rehearsed, like if he didn't consciously move his body, it would just go still.

Ardata thought that maybe he was on something at first. She saw a few people turn on to cigarettes, alcohol, or some other drug and how they changed up fast. She even smelled smoke on him once in gym when they had to partner up, so she figured he got hooked on cigarettes. She dismissed it after she realized it smelled more like a campfire rather than nicotine.

But really, that didn't make her want to stop Trizza from messing with him anymore. What really wanted to make her stop was his eyes.

Ardata's parents, back when they worked from home, always wondered if she was some type of psychic. She was always able to read someone's emotions just by looking into their eyes long enough to figure out something about them, even if they didn't know it themselves.

Vantas' eyes changed at some point. Changed to something dark.

He blinked less and they shifted more, calculating people within the room with a passing glance. He was always aware of everyone's movements, as if expecting an attack on all sides. The red that occupied it had dulled slightly, as if a little life had gone out of it, replaced by wariness and caution.

Whatever it was that went missing in them, the color, and the emotion, was filled by something else. Something she didn't recognize. Something that was reflected in the rest of his body language and his speech.

Ardata couldn't decide whether it was like watching scared prey looking for predators, or the predator itself looking for its next victim.

She hoped Trizza would stop messing with him before that gaze turned onto her. She really did.


	5. An Observation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing really substantial or angsty. Just something I couldn't help but point out to myself.

"Guys, I think we're the Mystery Skulls."

Karkat had to blink for a few seconds as he drifted out of the nap he'd been taking. The inane statement from Aradia had thrown him off and he wasn't exactly sure how to take it. Spending the afternoon lazing in the living room had been his idea, though he really wished he hadn't decided to sleep on the floor.

"AA, what the hell are you talking about?" Sollux put down the gaming magazine, rubbing at his eyes. He would've been trying to catch up on his sleep too if one of them had to be awake at all times.

"Y'know, Mystery Skulls?" Aradia flipped her phone to show it to them, a music video playing the iPhone's screen. "That series that I showed you guys last year? Come on, you guys loved it when I showed you."

"Are you talking about those music videos that come out every two years or something?" Karkat grumbled, getting up to glare at his friend. "The hell are you comparing us to them for? I'm pretty sure we're better than Scooby Doo expies."

"I'm just saying, we share some similarities." Aradia shrugged, looking back at her phone again. "I'm looking at the character profiles and I can't help but think we fit a little too well into it."

"You know what," Sollux threw the magazine onto the table, rolling his eyes hard. "Which of us is which then? I'd like to hear this."

Aradia rolled her eyes right back, punching Sollux in the arm before pulling up the character profiles again. She showed the phones screen, a picture of a blue haired woman showing on it.

"For starters, I'm definitely the Vivi of the group." Aradia threw some of her hair back behind her ear, smiling devilishly. "I'm cute, smart, and definitely into the paranormal. I'd definitely kill to have a kitsune/dog thing, that's for sure."

"Well, that goes without saying." Karkat smirked. "You are both nerds, I can agree with that."

The halfa dodged a kick with some level of grace, earning a tongue stuck out at him. Aradia changed the picture to a blonde man with anime looking hair.

"Sollux is definitely an Arthur." Aradia counted out each detail on her fingers as she continued. "He's our resident tech expert, the only one of us that can drive reliably, not to mention is _really_ scared of the supernatural…"

"I'm not scared. I just actually have some common sense compared to you two lunatics." Sollux didn't like this comparison anymore, giving a glare to Karkat as he laughed from his spot on the floor. "What the hell is Karkat then? Have anything for him?"

"Oh, that's obvious." Aradia swiped her finger, showing the serious visage of a skeleton ghost. "He's our pissed off, undead best friend! Well, he's not a skeleton, but that can probably be fixed with some good facepaint."

"Oh hell no, I'm not letting you do anything with my face again after last time." Karkat jabbed a foot at her, barely poking her side. "Also, good job using my situation as a joke. I'm sure that was real funny when you thought of it."

"I did think it was funny. I'm glad you thought so too." Aradia chose to ignore the sarcasm, focusing her attention on her phone again. She frowned as she looked at the last member of the Mystery Skulls team. "Then again, we don't have a dog, much less a magical one. You think we can find one in the Ghost Zone?"

"Let's not bring an invasive species into the human world, please?" Sollux rolled his eyes, picking up the magazine again. Opening it, he decided to add one last tidbit to before getting back into it. "Besides, Nepeta's the team pet. We just need get her a collar and we'll be all set."

"Kinky~."

The two boys groaned, throwing pillows at Aradia who just cackled at their misery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Karkat really has been feeling like ghost lately. It doesn't help that Aradia isn't helping him stop freaking out, hellbent on giving him some nightmares. At least Sollux is thinking about the future, even if it's only about gaming.
> 
> ...I am unashamed of these puns, just so you know.


End file.
